Flood Warning for the Carmel River

"The National Weather Service canceled a flood warning for the Carmel River on Tuesday morning as the river dropped below its flood stage.

The Carmel River crested at 9.99 feet, below its forecast of 10.5 feet and under the moderate flood stage of 11 feet but above the minor flood stage mark of 8.5 feet."

From: Monterey Herald
Picture From: San Clemente Rancho

Always Trembling With Fear of the Lash

"The Indians at the missions were very severely treated by the padres, often punished by fifty lashes on the bare back. Any disobedience or infraction of the rules, and then came the lash without mercy, the women the same as the men... We were always trembling with fear of the lash."
-dictated in 1890 by Lorenzo Asisara, born at Santa Cruz Mission in 1819.
From: Bad Indians
Picture from:SF Magazine

California Newts Begin Their Long Trek Back from the Vernal Pools.

It's that time of year again when the California Newts begin their long trek back from the Vernal Pools. 
For the next few months they will be crossing Carmel Valley Road in the Hastings area - please watch out for them if you're traveling by; already there are many on the road which have been run over.

From: Hastings

With Dam Gone, California River Comes Back to Life

Carmel River flows in January were the highest they’ve been since 1998. That’s due to winter storms which soaked the Carmel Basin with 25 inches of rain since the first of the year.

From: KQED

Pinnixa Galliheri Rathbun Crab. Miocene Age. Carmel Valley, CA

The Miocene Epoch was 23.03 to 5.3 million years ago.  Two major ecosystems made their first appearances: kelp forests and grasslands. In North America, the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountain ranges formed.

From: UCMP 
Picture From: Kozmic Dreams

San Clemente Dam reroute blasted a gorgeous ridgeline in half & destroyed acres of oak woodland

Instead of implementing a plan for the safe and controlled release of sediment to feed downstream riparian zones, wetlands and the nearshore environment, this plan capped the accumulated reservoir sediment in place and rerouted the creek around it.
The reroute blasted a gorgeous ridgeline in half, destroyed acres of oak woodland, and eliminated a long reach of the sediment-buried Carmel River. This shortened the overall length of the river and bombarded the lower reach of the smaller, adjacent San Clemente Creek tributary with the full force of the Carmel River mainstem.

From: damnation
Picture from San Clemente Dam Removal

Jacks Peak

Jacks Peak Park has much to offer the outdoor enthusiast. Almost 8.5 miles of trails wind through cathedral-like forests and to breathtaking ridge top vistas. The Skyline Trail traverses the summit of Jacks Peak and features fossils from the Miocene epoch.
From: Jacks Peak

The Santa Lucia Preserve includes all of Rancho San Carlos

The Santa Lucia Preserve includes all 20,000 acres of Rancho San Carlos, which dates from 1857.

From: Santa Lucia Preserve

Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo

Cholom was baptized "Fructuoso de Jesus" at Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo in 1785. His father was recorded as Patricio Jose Solol Cholom of Echilat, baptized by Padre Junipero Serra.

Picture From: Costanoan Rumsen
From: Bad Indians by Deborah A. Miranda

Before the Mission, it had been the village of Echilat

"Fructuoso de Jesus Cholom-Real grew up to serve as mission alcalde. With his wife, Yginia Maria Yunisyunis, he received one square parcel of land during secularization in 1835, called El Potrero de San Carlos. He lived on this land until his death in 1845. The land had been Carmel Mission's pasture, but before the mission, it had been the village of Echilat."

From: Bad Indians by Deborah A. Miranda
Picture From Santa Lucia Preserve